I received this from the General Chairman's office,
"Over the last couple of weeks, it has been brought to the attention of this office that the Carrier is pulling the second ground employee off yard jobs. They are making traditional two-man yard jobs one-man yard jobs. Contractually under Crew Consist they have that right. As you all are aware one-yard man cannot do the work of two men. Our members are professionals and I know that they will perform their work in a professional manner. With that being said, we cannot for safety reasons, take short cuts. It is important that our members comply with all the rules. Also, winter is coming fast, and our members have to be able to take short breaks to get out of the elements and warm up. This is a safety issue. This office wants to be advised if the Carrier is not allowing our members to use proper judgement when they need to warm up. We will need all the information when this occurs."